I always thought it was a way of looking at bodies with fewer clothes, in a country where the weather is not usually conducive to that. Other countries use beaches for that. 😅
Since the UK smoking ban I had been wondering what to do instead of going to the pub. After all I don't drink anyway. Sauna is brilliant. Maybe we can turn some of the Pubs that are going out of business into Sauna and red-light therapy !
@@paulgaras2606 The worse case of this oddity was after 2 months, a couple bought a Volvo, wore matching knit turtlenecks and carried snow skis everywhere. It was quite a strange site in southern Florida.
What makes that phenomenon even odder is that using a sauna is renowned as a Finnish practice---even the word "sauna" is Finnish. It'd be like eating sauerkraut every day and developing a French accent.
@@anachronistofer It might have something to do with Cedar used in dry saunas. Some partitioners find themselves involuntarily singing "I once had a girl or should I say she once had me, isn't it good, Norwegian wood". with that annoying accent.
As a northern Ontario boy, half the people the people i knew had sauna’s. Growing up it was normal to sauna with the adults and they would often have beer, outside the sauna but in between jumping in the lake and such. Beer and sauna went hand in hand. It is funny how completely crazy that sounds to me now as a health conscious adult. Lol. I did actually have some non-alcoholic beer with the sauna this past summer which was pretty nice!
The fact that the cardiovascular benefits of sauna are dose-dependent, according to the KIHD study, makes the case in favor of sauna even more compelling. Great video!
In Northern Ontario, Canada, the First Nations people (Cree and Ojibway) became very close and sympatico with immigrants from Finland --- and this led to a lot of intermarriage --- because the Finns used the sauna, which is identical to the First Nations "sweat hut." In both cultures, the sweat treatment is seen as a cultural marker and a spiritual practice. The custom is common to aboriginal peoples across the subarctic Taiga regions of boreal forest from Fennoscandia across Siberia and into Alaska and throughout Canada.
On the subject of nitric oxide and vasodilation. I would love to see you break down studies regarding PDE5 inhibitors used in an anti-aging prophylactic manner.
I’ve been doing sauna for over 2 decades but more regularly since after the COVID lockdowns and I have never felt better, in terms of my health and how it improves my immune system. I’ve been spending in the sauna (80-90C) for a minimum of 1/2 hour in the summer and near an hour in the winter with cold showers in between (somehow the colder the shower, the longer I can stay in the sauna afterwards. Apart from all the benefits mentioned in this video, I’ve read about how sweating can help to detox the body and enhance autophagy. Not to mention how the infrared from sauna can activate the production of melatonin by our mitochondria. Not to mention how sweating unblocks the pores and improves complexion. However, one still needs to be aware of the potential harms that sauna can cause. Last year, I saw a man who collapsed after spending about an hour in the sauna, he had been in and out, doing around 10-15 mins inside max, always sitting at the lower level. According to the staffs there who was taking care of him, his BP was down to 40 systolic. I spoke to him the next day, he told me he used to have high blood pressure but have been on BP lowering meds for over a decade. From what I can deduced, he was probably completely dehydrated which lowered his BP and caused him to faint. For people who have medical issues, especially low blood pressure, they need to make sure to be well hydrated and not stay in there for too long. Stay healthy! 😘
I live in Tucson all year, so it feels like a Sauna in the dry part of the summer, (before monsoons) 🌵no less I appreciate your reporting the science behind taking saunas . When in Finland, jumping into cold lake in between sauna time was awesome. (Summertime only).
In Sweden we usually do sauna after training, if we do it socially, for example if we go with some friends on the weekend, do sauna and ica bath, it's almost exclusively in combination with beer. And we don't do this for health reasons of course.
Sauna usage in Europe is a relaxing and sometimes social activity. No one brings their cellphones or headphones into the sauna. From my observation in the states people take their electronic devices into the sauna. Maybe there is a benefit to the social or disconnection component that would not be observed in the U.S.
@ I fully agree. It doesn’t end there, people go inside with their gym clothes without showering, do push ups or other exercises in the sauna etc. I stopped going to hotel or public saunas in the states for that reason.
That is so great! I wish I could move to Europe. People in the US can't go to the toilet without their phone and everyone is wearing headphones. No one talks or makes eye contact.
My wife and I, age 51 and 49, sauna at least once per week. Always on Friday, always with 2 or 3 beers per session. There was a large influx of Finnish immigrants to our area in the 70's and 80's, and that is part of the sauna culture.
I notice Nic said to avoid alcohol but when you are on vacation , you might drink a lot and there are saunas in the hotels. That is how you end up drunk in a sauna.
@@jeffguarino2097 I never touched alcohol or did smoke anything. It would not be wise while using sauna renovating to take alcohol. At least it's best to give that day a break
As always. Awesome video! Hey. Your thoughts on vibration exercise plates! Like Life pro vibration exercise plates! Very interesting. I bought one. Pretty cool! Oh. I have an ICE bath and a sauna! Masochist I am!🤣🤣🤣🤣❤️🙏🏻. Thanks Doc. Your awesome. 🙏🏻❤️. Oh Happy New year!!🎊🎆
If you know Finish people, you also know why it’s important to warn about sauna and alcohol intake - sauna can easily be mixed with a great day at a lake house (also including jumping into the snow or cold water in between) 🙈🥳
3:18 imo sauna isn't linked to wealth at all in finland. There are so many public saunas and they are dirt cheap if your apartment/house doesn't have one
Does hot bath in bath buckets with water up to neck level give same effect? Water can heat your body up in lower water temperature than air in saunas, so I imagine that you cauäb get sanäne effects that way. Or do you need to heat up the head and breathe hot air to?
@@Physionic It is actually close to impossible, I have ever heard of a single Finnish person who doesn't use sauna. And if you've ever been in a proper (Finnish) sauna, you know this video is of no relevance. Sauna makes you feel absolutely unbelievably great. That can only be a good health effect as it is achieved without drugs.
It's interesting to hear that human health can benefit from an invention that wasn't always available to humanity, yet isn't a drug, but rather stimulates a natural process.
Hilarious! I think spending the day out in the hot sun hunting and gathering has been available pretty much our entire evolution.😅I suppose the part where we started living in colder, darker conditions, not to mention manufacturing dungeons, might have put a dent in that sunshine exposure, leading to the invention.
I reckon a sauna in a cold country or in winter has more benefits than a hot one or in summer. Also if the main or real benefit of a sauna is raised nitric oxide then you can get that by humming, which works out a lot cheaper. Humming can increase nasal NO levels 15- to 20-fold compared to quiet exhalation
I understand this is a study/discussion on the health benefits of sauna. However, I feel that the whole discussion is somehow sidetracked in a bad way. There is a quite different whole sauna culture here in Finland, that most groups of foreign people including health enthusiasts don't seem quite to understand, or even totally misunderstand. It is true that quite a few people even drink heavily connected to a visit to sauna, which is never good as such alone. If one drinks tradiotionally a beer or two afterwards, it should be okay. Almost everybody has access to one or several saunas here. The tradirional (and the best) way to enjoy, is to visit a sauna a couple of times after a week of work at a lakeside (absolutely no hurry) and then have a swim in a lake, and then sit at the lakeside during a long summer evening peacefully to cool off with friends, and maybe have a beer. Repeated if one feels like it.
I wonder if there is any contribution from near infrared and it's effects on cell signalling? Like Interaction with Cytochrome c Oxidase (CCO) in Mitochondria, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Redox Signaling, Calcium Ion (Ca²⁺) Signaling... etc.... As in, i wonder if the near infrared contribution has been teased out from the more abundant mid and far infrared typical of most saunas...
I suspect it has, just by the nature of the heating method of most saunas. I guess you could bring an IR meter in to one and check. It would likely be low. IR or RL therapy needs to be much closer to the skin than the typical sauna heating element is.
I love the discussion about the statistics, but that brought up another question for me. When they control for all of these other variables like cardiovascular health markers, that is assuming that there may just be an association between people who sauna, and other lifestyle factors which give them better cardiovascular health. But what if sauna's benefits (or generally speaking any intervention you are investigating) is directly due to improving cardiovascular markers, like blood pressure? If you control for that, then you wouldn't see the benefits...
@eray9934 - I find sauna useful if I have to get back into ketosis quickly. The hormetic effect of 3 x 15 mins @ 185 degrees (with breaks in between) produces ketosis after about 12 hours. Of course, I also appreciate all the other benefits I'm hearing about in this video.
Interestingly in this graph 9:00, the HSP concentration before the 10th sauna is higher than before the 1st sauna, so there may be a chronic increase. Though the difference is small compared to the variation, so I don't know if it's statistically significant.
Regarding alcohol consumption in the sauna: in Russia it's kind of a cultural phenomenon to mix the two. People would go to a sauna complex featuring the sauna room, a cold water pool and a table filled with alcoholic drinks and snacks, and then alternate between them for a couple of hours.
If you fallow sauna strickly you know that the best way to do it is after spending 10 to 15 minutes in sauna you are supposed to jump in cold water so what it does to your veins is hot relaxes the veins cold contracts the veins so if you do this regularly your veins stay flexible which will prevent hart diseases related to vains which get hard and cause high blood pressure and so forth..falow the ice man wim Hoff? talsk about this..
With population of 5.5million people Finland has over 2 million saunas, so with any measure sauna is absolutely not limited to your economical status. Everyone in Finland has some access to sauna. Home, Apartment, shared Sauna in apartment buildings, or swim halls or pubic saunas, hotel, Gym or second on in cottage by the lake.... Paper mill workers can have sauna after their work shift if they wish, same with Police and firemen, Ice Breakers and Ships... Finland is known for its work life balance, so every walks of life has chance to relax after hard work day or -week.
Hey Dr. Nick! I’ve noticed that countries that traditionally Sauna, lack Sunshine and that the reported benefits of each overlap. Is there any evidence that Sauna benefits people in sunny climates?
Physionics Insiders: I've watched a few of your videos recently (great content) and am interested. Before signing-up it would be great if you expounded (perhaps in a video?) on what you typically explore in-depth there. For instance, in this video, you mention more info about the best sauna protocols. Do you, for instance, share thoughts/data on infrared (IR) vs traditional sauna therein?
Would love to see a comparison of effects between Japanese-style baths and sauna. A Japanese bath fits into most people’s homes (even apartments) better than a sauna.
@@broccool2300Japanese homes all have bath tubs, even most of the smallest apartments. Japanese regularly take hot baths every evening before bed. No onsen but the OP’s point stands
@@ryanvacation7319 Those are way more expensive and at no shortage of used space. You can convert a shower space into a sauna just as you could use the same space to put in a bathtub. I have a portable infrared sauna that I put in my home gym and it only cost me $200.
I think that a hot bath allows a break for the mitochondria (less energy needs to be produced and other metabolic functions can be focused on) you may quote me on that
I’m not one to sauna but I once chose while on vacation to have a couple of drinks in the fancy tub at the hotel thinking that was supposed to be something fun and relaxing (I’m not usually one to take baths either). But I ended up feeling like total garbage after that. And I drink fairly regularly so I can’t blame it all on the a-a-a-a-alcohol
My problem with sauna is that it wipes me out for the rest of the day.....at least if i do the twenty minutes like they recommend. Electrolytes help but there's not getting much done after. All I want to do is sleep it off. Great before bed I suppose but that doesn't fit my schedule. Really good for the skin though. I noticed that dry, flakey skin around my nose and forehead vanished after doing sauna for a while. I can do 10 or maybe 15 but I have to bounce once I start feeling my heart start pounding hard. Maybe if you're a runner with a super-cardio system you wouldn't have this problem and 20 minutes would be a breeze. Just like weight lifting though and the soreness that follows I can tell good things are going on physically.
Saunas speed up the dehydration rate in your body. That’s what’s causing your “pounding heart” while in the sauna. I feel terrible (tired/lifeless) also after being under excessive heat. I’d rather remain at slightly elevated room temperature (75-85) to feel my best.
In addition to electrolyte water, you probably need to take binders when you sauna. I used to feel like you when I was super mold toxic but now that I've been doing it a long time I feel great afterward.
I drink about 12-16 ounces of heated water with salt added immediately prior to entering the sauna. This helps your body deal with the rapid dehydration and salt loss through sweating, but heating the beverage doesn't counteract the sauna's heat effects. Basically, it's about as warm as you can make it while still being able to drink it straight down without needing to sip due to heat.
By far the most available “sauna” for the most people in the US is a sauna blanket, but then there are warnings about electromagnetics (I’m no expert!) so, are sauna blankets ok, or not? Are there studies?
Other studies showing in sauna have the sweating so water loss and then body working to increase blood volume so with this more epo which in turn is big benefit for endurance athletes- please can comment on this from all your reviews?
Everyone pretty much have sauna in Finland so it has nothing to do with money. Finnish people do it because its f cold. Walking is still prob first better to do if you think how you spend your time.
@@geoff_onYT I know only 1 Finnish person who does not go to sauna on regular basis. In Finland its really hard to find non users... 5.5 million population with 3 million saunas. The only "hopelessly confounded" factor is nationality. Now I think I go to warm up my sauna for its much healthier activity than arguing in RUclips ^^
All very interesting, thank you. However, what about the benchmarks for and definition of SAUNA? For example, how long is a "sauna bath" and at which temperature is the sauna area? Also, does it include the water-on-the embers ritual. These are all components and correlations that should be mentioned in the analysis. Or, not?
i never have, but a few beers in the sauna sounds like a great time, at least before learning about the sudden cardiac death aspect. But it wouldn't surprise me to learn if some Canadians, Eastern Europeans, or Russians, etc., throughout history, weren't strange to drinking alcohol in the sauna
Sauna and then jump into a hole chopped out of the ice in the lake. I read that you blood pressure will spike and heart rate jump. I wonder if that is safe? I know at our family cottage at the lake in Manitoba the neighbors had a sauna right beside the lake and would chop a big square hole in the ice and do this. Get steaming hot and run out fast and jump in the drink (lake).
My mother in law have been told by her doctor to never go to saunas as she's had blood clots before and is now on blood thinners permanently. I find that contra indicating.
Think of it like this. If you're allergic to vegetables then don't eat vegetables. Doesn't make vegetables are good for most people but not for this person untrue. Sauna increases heart rate and drops blood pressure if you've got heart disease this could theoretically kill you therefore drs may tell patients aka unwell people not to sauna but this doesn't make it untrue that saunas are good for well people. Also I'm a Dr and a physiologist in intensive care. Hope that helps
@MegaPoliyo yes saunas increase heart rate, but so does exercise. Heart diseased patients are not adviced against exercise, quite the contrary. Again, from all the health benefits that increases longevity, I'd find it a bad idea for such a patient to completely avoid saunas. I'd just urge the person to be careful and exit the sauna if she feels bad. Same with infrared light use.
I'd love to see some objective data on the benefits of hot exercise, both with and without infrared lights. I use a Hotworx studio, where I do interval training @130 F two to three times weekly. The traditional saunas in my city are more like AIDS-sharing spaces than what the Fins had in mind.
It's pretty common in Russia to drink vodka in Saunas. Not sure how this tradition formed, bout thousands of people do that regularly, people who can are often overweight, drinkers and smokers, all in one. And yes, there is nothing good in that combination, yet people keep doing it.
Unfortunately, Attia has a long history of promoting beliefs that are refuted by the scientific evidence. It has made him wealthy though. He is telegenic and articulate which no doubt helps explain his popularity on social media and among alternative health believers and health influencers of the shock/horror persuasion. However, it means that I automatically question anything he says.
Mind blown moment!.. Seriously, I went down a deep rabbit hole after watching this - the kind where you come out hours later questioning reality! So, I started digging into the effects of different types of EMF (because that’s what you do on a Friday afternoon, right?). I focused on far, mid, and near-infrared, pretty straightforward stuff. But then, I couldn't help but notice there are some wild overlaps between the effects of near-infrared (NIR) and RF-EMF. Which, at first glance, feels paradoxical. I mean, NIR is way further down the spectrum, past far-infrared and brushing shoulders with visible light, while RF-EMF hangs out with microwave frequencies. So, why would both have similar effects on cellular signaling pathways? Cue the plot twist: heat shock proteins (HSPs). Both NIR and RF-EMF can trigger these molecular repair crews, which got me thinking... Maybe we’ve been a bit too quick to lump RF-EMF into the “bad guy” category. Sure, RF-EMF seems more likely to stir up ROS (reactive oxygen species) and inflammation, which isn’t ideal. But what if we flipped the script? What if low-level RF-EMF exposure works like a hormetic stressor, a small dose of “stress” that actually makes your cells stronger? Kind of like exercise or cold plunges, but for your cellular signaling pathways. Of course, you’d need to counterbalance the increased ROS and inflammation with antioxidants (hello, vitamin C, NAC, curcumin), but in theory, this could turn RF-EMF exposure into a net health win. Crazy idea? Maybe. But isn’t science all about asking weird questions and poking the edges of what we think we know? Just some brain fuel for your next trip down the rabbit hole. 😉
Nice thinking! Very original approach. I use a fairly old IR sauna frequently during the cold months and have never worried about EM radiation and I've never had any symptoms that would cause me to suspect it's a problem. I do take Vitamin C and curcumin daily, and recently added NAC, but never to offset EM radiation effects. I've always found my sauna use to have a positive effect on both my physical and mental health. A good session provides a huge increase in dopamine afterwards, much like having gone for a good run. But like any workout one has to remind oneself that the amount of suffering during it directly relates to the amount of benefit afterwards.
I detest heat. I am wiped out and feel awful be it humid or dry heat. Dry is better, but I feel as though I am drowning in a wet sauna. I cant breathe.
@@Physionic Low LDL is causing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ADHD and of course anxiety. I changed my mind about that, so please, someone make video if possible.
Pretty sure hot rocks or flame or whatever ”produces” infrared light. But certain wavelengths can have certain effects. So not the same but similiar. Normal sauna can be like small workout, infrared sauna more like recovery.
Or steam shower. I can only stand a max of 10 minutes at 110 degrees F with near 100% humidity. But I'm motivated to do it every night because it helps me sleep much better. But with dry saunas, people spend ~30 minutes in there at 180 degrees F. Infrared are apparently slightly lower temperatures. Very different experience, either way.
Eh... Bastu (Sauna) is NEVER done without beer - everyone knows that. And they are accessible to anyone (albeit not at home for most city dwellers) no matter income. /Greetings from Sweden
The adjusted model does not accout for the fact that the people who have the time to go to sauna all the time do this while still doing all the other things the reference group. In other words, they can accomplish more in a time unit. Maybe this is due to the sauna goers having a higher IQ and/or other similar factors that are not adjusted for.
First above others, it cleans you. I do sauna daily, cannot afford to do that at home, but here in Finland, every swimming hall has saunas so there goes your bias towards a certain $$$ class....
What environmental conditions qualify for something to be called a sauna? Recommending a sauna, when the recommendation would be much simpler, would be preferable.
Do you also have normal weight, normal blood pressure, don't smoke, drink moderately, no history of heart disease, no type 2 diabetes, cardio, resting heart and physical activity good because you exercise and you're not poor? 😅
Finns don't do sauna for the health benefits, it just happens to be part of the culture. Most people do sauna just for fun and drink beer in there, and they have a lot of other unhealthy habits. Coming from a finn, saying that people who already are interested in health are more likely to do sauna is simply not true. Most low income houses, especially rural ones still have a sauna. Also many low income people go to public saunas.
With the amount of alcohol finish ppl drink i think sauna doas a alot of heavy lifting for their health :D And Attia talks about mostly rich ppl using sauna or having access... not true every shitty apartments u rent in finland has sauna access... its a commen USA belife that u need to be rich to access these things, not in europe ^^ So his reasoning is based and do not fit Finland
To do a sort of stupid comparison, it's like a bidet, that usually people associate with wealthy mansions, when in fact it was just a standard thing in Europe. Even "poor" houses had one.
Lol,you're not sweating any heavy metals out And no one who's obese is just sitting in saunas and suddenly getting healthy It's 2025, saunas do nothing
I suspect you may have covered this in previous videos, please point me to the video(s). What if there is no access to a sauna, but access is available to hot tub, hot shower, etc. are the results lesser or greater than a traditional sauna?
The big thing with that is that for males it'll nuke your sperm count and test if you aren't careful to cool your testes afterwards. It definitely works though, I did it for a long time before I got a sauna blanket
You would think people who live in Phoenix or the Coachella valley would have noticeably longer lifespans, but it doesn’t really look like it.. (May through October are essentially outdoor sauna months)
But it’s not 174 F degrees hot, which is the temp used in most studies to show an effect. Anything under about 150 F won’t provide the benefits such heat shock protein activation.
@ I’ve lived in both places and if you walk around or do other activities during the day, you get quite a bit hotter than the ambient temperature- but probably not 150 degrees hot 😛
![Why your Low Carb Diet is hurting your Heart, and How to Improve it. [11 Studies]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tla-JrqhhHI/mqdefault.jpg)
I didn't have my glasses on
I thought it said
I've changed my mind on santa.
😂
I have, too.
Nope. Physionics and Peter Attia are definitely believers 🎅
😂
Good one...these Phys folks are clever on the commentary of humor and Nic is as well.
sir, love this new format, short and digestible topics, a good listen while travelling on train or walking
Finnish don't do sauna for health reasons, they do it because that's what you do in Finland apart from drinking.
Drinking is overrated, but sauna cleans both the body and mind. But a low quality sauna just makes one disappointed and angry.
I always thought it was a way of looking at bodies with fewer clothes, in a country where the weather is not usually conducive to that. Other countries use beaches for that. 😅
While eating pickled herring and chasing reindeer
Since the UK smoking ban I had been wondering what to do instead of going to the pub. After all I don't drink anyway. Sauna is brilliant. Maybe we can turn some of the Pubs that are going out of business into Sauna and red-light therapy !
@@Riaharmony I know, smoking in sauna is awesome.
A missed point of sauna is after a few months of 4 times a week, some people develop a Norwegian accent.
It’s a problem. I can’t stop wearing cable knit wool and I’m having trouble working more than 6 hrs.
@@paulgaras2606
The worse case of this oddity was after 2 months, a couple bought a Volvo, wore matching knit turtlenecks and carried snow skis everywhere. It was quite a strange site in southern Florida.
What makes that phenomenon even odder is that using a sauna is renowned as a Finnish practice---even the word "sauna" is Finnish. It'd be like eating sauerkraut every day and developing a French accent.
@@anachronistofer It might have something to do with Cedar used in dry saunas. Some partitioners find themselves involuntarily singing "I once had a girl or should I say she once had me, isn't it good, Norwegian wood". with that annoying accent.
And I turned into a beautiful blonde.
As a northern Ontario boy, half the people the people i knew had sauna’s. Growing up it was normal to sauna with the adults and they would often have beer, outside the sauna but in between jumping in the lake and such. Beer and sauna went hand in hand. It is funny how completely crazy that sounds to me now as a health conscious adult. Lol. I did actually have some non-alcoholic beer with the sauna this past summer which was pretty nice!
The fact that the cardiovascular benefits of sauna are dose-dependent, according to the KIHD study, makes the case in favor of sauna even more compelling. Great video!
Whats the favoured dose?
@jonny1943 4 or more sessions of 15-20 minutes per week
Strong correlation with amount of free time and money
In Northern Ontario, Canada, the First Nations people (Cree and Ojibway) became very close and sympatico with immigrants from Finland --- and this led to a lot of intermarriage --- because the Finns used the sauna, which is identical to the First Nations "sweat hut." In both cultures, the sweat treatment is seen as a cultural marker and a spiritual practice. The custom is common to aboriginal peoples across the subarctic Taiga regions of boreal forest from Fennoscandia across Siberia and into Alaska and throughout Canada.
On the subject of nitric oxide and vasodilation. I would love to see you break down studies regarding PDE5 inhibitors used in an anti-aging prophylactic manner.
They give a nice gym pump too
@@siclucealucks That's not all they pump....
I really appreciate your focus in molecular science being translated for us lay people. I find understanding the science extremely useful.
I’ve been doing sauna for over 2 decades but more regularly since after the COVID lockdowns and I have never felt better, in terms of my health and how it improves my immune system. I’ve been spending in the sauna (80-90C) for a minimum of 1/2 hour in the summer and near an hour in the winter with cold showers in between (somehow the colder the shower, the longer I can stay in the sauna afterwards. Apart from all the benefits mentioned in this video, I’ve read about how sweating can help to detox the body and enhance autophagy. Not to mention how the infrared from sauna can activate the production of melatonin by our mitochondria. Not to mention how sweating unblocks the pores and improves complexion. However, one still needs to be aware of the potential harms that sauna can cause. Last year, I saw a man who collapsed after spending about an hour in the sauna, he had been in and out, doing around 10-15 mins inside max, always sitting at the lower level. According to the staffs there who was taking care of him, his BP was down to 40 systolic. I spoke to him the next day, he told me he used to have high blood pressure but have been on BP lowering meds for over a decade. From what I can deduced, he was probably completely dehydrated which lowered his BP and caused him to faint. For people who have medical issues, especially low blood pressure, they need to make sure to be well hydrated and not stay in there for too long. Stay healthy! 😘
Sauna is life! (no bias here, just the opinion of an average Finn)
You might feel differently if you lived in Florida.
@@dansaunders6761Why?
@@Sherukka All of Florida is a sauna, as is much of the Southern US. It is very hot and even when not hot, it is still very humid.
I live in Tucson all year, so it feels like a Sauna in the dry part of the summer, (before monsoons) 🌵no less I appreciate your reporting the science behind taking saunas . When in Finland, jumping into cold lake in between sauna time was awesome. (Summertime only).
A sauna should be about 74 degrees hotter than tucsons peak temps in summer. I also live in Az
In Sweden we usually do sauna after training, if we do it socially, for example if we go with some friends on the weekend, do sauna and ica bath, it's almost exclusively in combination with beer. And we don't do this for health reasons of course.
Ok, You got me!
I want to know the details you have uncovered re different forms of sauna..... will sign up when on back from holiday
Sauna usage in Europe is a relaxing and sometimes social activity. No one brings their cellphones or headphones into the sauna. From my observation in the states people take their electronic devices into the sauna. Maybe there is a benefit to the social or disconnection component that would not be observed in the U.S.
That is extremely rude sauna etiquette.
@ I fully agree. It doesn’t end there, people go inside with their gym clothes without showering, do push ups or other exercises in the sauna etc. I stopped going to hotel or public saunas in the states for that reason.
People talk too much in the sauna imho.
Its prohibited in europe to take anything into the sauna except a towel and a bottle of water (depends on location)
That is so great! I wish I could move to Europe. People in the US can't go to the toilet without their phone and everyone is wearing headphones. No one talks or makes eye contact.
My wife and I, age 51 and 49, sauna at least once per week. Always on Friday, always with 2 or 3 beers per session. There was a large influx of Finnish immigrants to our area in the 70's and 80's, and that is part of the sauna culture.
What country are you In that Finnish migrated to?
I notice Nic said to avoid alcohol but when you are on vacation , you might drink a lot and there are saunas in the hotels. That is how you end up drunk in a sauna.
@@theancientsancients1769 Northern Manitoba, Canada. Many families came to work in a pulp and paper mill.
@@atikameg73 Oh interesting I didn't know. I just knew about the German migration to Canada
@@jeffguarino2097 I never touched alcohol or did smoke anything. It would not be wise while using sauna renovating to take alcohol. At least it's best to give that day a break
As always. Awesome video! Hey. Your thoughts on vibration exercise plates! Like Life pro vibration exercise plates! Very interesting. I bought one. Pretty cool! Oh. I have an ICE bath and a sauna! Masochist I am!🤣🤣🤣🤣❤️🙏🏻. Thanks Doc. Your awesome. 🙏🏻❤️. Oh Happy New year!!🎊🎆
If you know Finish people, you also know why it’s important to warn about sauna and alcohol intake - sauna can easily be mixed with a great day at a lake house (also including jumping into the snow or cold water in between) 🙈🥳
Thanks, it is a good time use the sauna esp in winter time.
3:18 imo sauna isn't linked to wealth at all in finland. There are so many public saunas and they are dirt cheap if your apartment/house doesn't have one
Came here to say this. Sauna is pretty free/low cost. And still _mostly_ social habit not "health driven".
that is great! I'm envious!
Does hot bath in bath buckets with water up to neck level give same effect?
Water can heat your body up in lower water temperature than air in saunas, so I imagine that you cauäb get sanäne effects that way. Or do you need to heat up the head and breathe hot air to?
A Finish study? How do they find anyone who isn't going to the sauna regularly in Finland?
Although going to sauna regularly is common in Finland, it's not like everybody does that regularly.
More difficult than in other countries, but I wouldn't say it's anywhere near impossible.
@@Physionic It is actually close to impossible, I have ever heard of a single Finnish person who doesn't use sauna. And if you've ever been in a proper (Finnish) sauna, you know this video is of no relevance. Sauna makes you feel absolutely unbelievably great. That can only be a good health effect as it is achieved without drugs.
@@urpoukkoNot true
I know one person. Hardly a control group though.
It's interesting to hear that human health can benefit from an invention that wasn't always available to humanity, yet isn't a drug, but rather stimulates a natural process.
Hilarious! I think spending the day out in the hot sun hunting and gathering has been available pretty much our entire evolution.😅I suppose the part where we started living in colder, darker conditions, not to mention manufacturing dungeons, might have put a dent in that sunshine exposure, leading to the invention.
I reckon a sauna in a cold country or in winter has more benefits than a hot one or in summer. Also if the main or real benefit of a sauna is raised nitric oxide then you can get that by humming, which works out a lot cheaper. Humming can increase nasal NO levels 15- to 20-fold compared to quiet exhalation
I understand this is a study/discussion on the health benefits of sauna. However, I feel that the whole discussion is somehow sidetracked in a bad way.
There is a quite different whole sauna culture here in Finland, that most groups of foreign people including health enthusiasts don't seem quite to understand, or even totally misunderstand.
It is true that quite a few people even drink heavily connected to a visit to sauna, which is never good as such alone. If one drinks tradiotionally a beer or two afterwards, it should be okay.
Almost everybody has access to one or several saunas here.
The tradirional (and the best) way to enjoy, is to visit a sauna a couple of times after a week of work at a lakeside (absolutely no hurry) and then have a swim in a lake, and then sit at the lakeside during a long summer evening peacefully to cool off with friends, and maybe have a beer. Repeated if one feels like it.
Exactly
honestly listening to Peter Attia shortens my will to live
Yes, he is dull af.
Awesome video as always!
I wonder if there is any contribution from near infrared and it's effects on cell signalling? Like Interaction with Cytochrome c Oxidase (CCO) in Mitochondria, Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) and Redox Signaling, Calcium Ion (Ca²⁺) Signaling... etc.... As in, i wonder if the near infrared contribution has been teased out from the more abundant mid and far infrared typical of most saunas...
I suspect it has, just by the nature of the heating method of most saunas. I guess you could bring an IR meter in to one and check. It would likely be low.
IR or RL therapy needs to be much closer to the skin than the typical sauna heating element is.
Amazing and easy to understand thank you
I love the discussion about the statistics, but that brought up another question for me. When they control for all of these other variables like cardiovascular health markers, that is assuming that there may just be an association between people who sauna, and other lifestyle factors which give them better cardiovascular health. But what if sauna's benefits (or generally speaking any intervention you are investigating) is directly due to improving cardiovascular markers, like blood pressure? If you control for that, then you wouldn't see the benefits...
@eray9934 - I find sauna useful if I have to get back into ketosis quickly. The hormetic effect of 3 x 15 mins @ 185 degrees (with breaks in between) produces ketosis after about 12 hours. Of course, I also appreciate all the other benefits I'm hearing about in this video.
Interestingly in this graph 9:00, the HSP concentration before the 10th sauna is higher than before the 1st sauna, so there may be a chronic increase. Though the difference is small compared to the variation, so I don't know if it's statistically significant.
It may be misleading to call these heat shock proteins, as they may serve other purposes and be activated by other stimulus.
I don't sauna for health, I go because I like the feeling afterwards.
Mental health?
That IS the health, that you are feeling.
So you do it for health😂
My sauna is a gift. In fact I’ll hop in now. lol. They are about $150 on Amazon too. Relatively affordable.
Regarding alcohol consumption in the sauna: in Russia it's kind of a cultural phenomenon to mix the two. People would go to a sauna complex featuring the sauna room, a cold water pool and a table filled with alcoholic drinks and snacks, and then alternate between them for a couple of hours.
If you fallow sauna strickly you know that the best way to do it is after spending 10 to 15 minutes in sauna you are supposed to jump in cold water so what it does to your veins is hot relaxes the veins cold contracts the veins so if you do this regularly your veins stay flexible which will prevent hart diseases related to vains which get hard and cause high blood pressure and so forth..falow the ice man wim Hoff? talsk about this..
you sure that doesn't damage the veins?
With population of 5.5million people Finland has over 2 million saunas, so with any measure sauna is absolutely not limited to your economical status. Everyone in Finland has some access to sauna. Home, Apartment, shared Sauna in apartment buildings, or swim halls or pubic saunas, hotel, Gym or second on in cottage by the lake....
Paper mill workers can have sauna after their work shift if they wish, same with Police and firemen, Ice Breakers and Ships...
Finland is known for its work life balance, so every walks of life has chance to relax after hard work day or -week.
Hey Dr. Nick!
I’ve noticed that countries that traditionally Sauna, lack Sunshine and that the reported benefits of each overlap. Is there any evidence that Sauna benefits people in sunny climates?
that's a great question!!! Too bad he doesn't read the comments!
Anything on sauna causing cataracts?
Do we need to differentiate IR vs. traditional saunas? Which kind has more health benefits?
Physionics Insiders: I've watched a few of your videos recently (great content) and am interested. Before signing-up it would be great if you expounded (perhaps in a video?) on what you typically explore in-depth there. For instance, in this video, you mention more info about the best sauna protocols. Do you, for instance, share thoughts/data on infrared (IR) vs traditional sauna therein?
Would love to see a comparison of effects between Japanese-style baths and sauna. A Japanese bath fits into most people’s homes (even apartments) better than a sauna.
There is no way that a Japanese style onsen is easier to have than a sauna.
@@broccool2300Japanese homes all have bath tubs, even most of the smallest apartments. Japanese regularly take hot baths every evening before bed. No onsen but the OP’s point stands
@@ryanvacation7319 Those are way more expensive and at no shortage of used space. You can convert a shower space into a sauna just as you could use the same space to put in a bathtub. I have a portable infrared sauna that I put in my home gym and it only cost me $200.
We in Uk used to have properly hot baths before we all went to showers. It was fabulous
I think that a hot bath allows a break for the mitochondria (less energy needs to be produced and other metabolic functions can be focused on) you may quote me on that
I’m not one to sauna but I once chose while on vacation to have a couple of drinks in the fancy tub at the hotel thinking that was supposed to be something fun and relaxing (I’m not usually one to take baths either). But I ended up feeling like total garbage after that. And I drink fairly regularly so I can’t blame it all on the a-a-a-a-alcohol
What do you think about consuming spices like cloves, ginger, cinnamon and turmeric as a way to reduce mortality risk ?
My problem with sauna is that it wipes me out for the rest of the day.....at least if i do the twenty minutes like they recommend. Electrolytes help but there's not getting much done after. All I want to do is sleep it off. Great before bed I suppose but that doesn't fit my schedule.
Really good for the skin though. I noticed that dry, flakey skin around my nose and forehead vanished after doing sauna for a while. I can do 10 or maybe 15 but I have to bounce once I start feeling my heart start pounding hard. Maybe if you're a runner with a super-cardio system you wouldn't have this problem and 20 minutes would be a breeze.
Just like weight lifting though and the soreness that follows I can tell good things are going on physically.
Saunas speed up the dehydration rate in your body. That’s what’s causing your “pounding heart” while in the sauna. I feel terrible (tired/lifeless) also after being under excessive heat. I’d rather remain at slightly elevated room temperature (75-85) to feel my best.
Good personal feedback - thanks for sharing
In addition to electrolyte water, you probably need to take binders when you sauna. I used to feel like you when I was super mold toxic but now that I've been doing it a long time I feel great afterward.
@@cindianderson9443 What do you mean by "binders"?
I drink about 12-16 ounces of heated water with salt added immediately prior to entering the sauna. This helps your body deal with the rapid dehydration and salt loss through sweating, but heating the beverage doesn't counteract the sauna's heat effects. Basically, it's about as warm as you can make it while still being able to drink it straight down without needing to sip due to heat.
Please can you speak on red light therapy for injury recovery, joint pain, and post-surgery
Average life span in Finland is 82 years.
Little sunlight and drinking culture probably hurts them a lot.
@ we Americans have an average lifespan of 77.5 years. Looks like the sauna helps!
People probably a lot more sensible in Finland they probably don’t jump over the counter and fight the fast food worker over their nuggets
I don’t need sauna, I have menopausal heat flashes.
Does sauna help or hinder midlife hormonal fluxuations ?
By far the most available “sauna” for the most people in the US is a sauna blanket, but then there are warnings about electromagnetics (I’m no expert!) so, are sauna blankets ok, or not? Are there studies?
I wonder if you get the same effects from hot baths.
Other studies showing in sauna have the sweating so water loss and then body working to increase blood volume so with this more epo which in turn is big benefit for endurance athletes- please can comment on this from all your reviews?
Everyone pretty much have sauna in Finland so it has nothing to do with money. Finnish people do it because its f cold. Walking is still prob first better to do if you think how you spend your time.
The real OG's knew this shit with Dr. Rhonda Patrick almost a decade ago
I dont have a suana. I do have access to a bath. Any evidence comparing sauna to hot baths? Thanks.
Look at Dr Rhonda Patrick if you want to know more but she says its the same...
Peter goes instantly offtrack: even people on welfare go to sauna here.
but that doesn't mean the data isn't hopelessly confounded. as he says, there could be 100 important reasons sauna users are different to non-users.
@@geoff_onYT I know only 1 Finnish person who does not go to sauna on regular basis. In Finland its really hard to find non users... 5.5 million population with 3 million saunas. The only "hopelessly confounded" factor is nationality. Now I think I go to warm up my sauna for its much healthier activity than arguing in RUclips ^^
All very interesting, thank you. However, what about the benchmarks for and definition of SAUNA? For example, how long is a "sauna bath" and at which temperature is the sauna area? Also, does it include the water-on-the embers ritual. These are all components and correlations that should be mentioned in the analysis. Or, not?
i never have, but a few beers in the sauna sounds like a great time, at least before learning about the sudden cardiac death aspect. But it wouldn't surprise me to learn if some Canadians, Eastern Europeans, or Russians, etc., throughout history, weren't strange to drinking alcohol in the sauna
I sauna 3 times per week at my local gym. Is there an optimal temperature and time spent per session?
Sauna and then jump into a hole chopped out of the ice in the lake. I read that you blood pressure will spike and heart rate jump. I wonder if that is safe? I know at our family cottage at the lake in Manitoba the neighbors had a sauna right beside the lake and would chop a big square hole in the ice and do this. Get steaming hot and run out fast and jump in the drink (lake).
Is there a distinction between traditional sauna and infrared sauna? Access to one or the other may be difficult.
"Please be good for me, please be good for me..." 🙏
If I do my HIT and sauna regularly I am off blood pressure medication. I have to stop taking it I get light headed from super low BP
For anyone who has no access to saunas, will a hot shower or hot bath yield at least part of the benefits, like the hot shock proteins for example?
Yes, most likely at least some part of it like HSP and NRF-2 activation
Is there much difference between sauna and running on a hot summer day?
What about the increase in HGF Dr. Rhonda Patrick says results from sauna ?
Very interesting. That makes sense because warmth can spike glucose.
Hi. I wonder if you've looked in to capsaisin? No effect?
My mother in law have been told by her doctor to never go to saunas as she's had blood clots before and is now on blood thinners permanently. I find that contra indicating.
I wonder if there’s studies out there relating to blood clots and sauna use
Think of it like this. If you're allergic to vegetables then don't eat vegetables. Doesn't make vegetables are good for most people but not for this person untrue. Sauna increases heart rate and drops blood pressure if you've got heart disease this could theoretically kill you therefore drs may tell patients aka unwell people not to sauna but this doesn't make it untrue that saunas are good for well people. Also I'm a Dr and a physiologist in intensive care. Hope that helps
@MegaPoliyo yes saunas increase heart rate, but so does exercise. Heart diseased patients are not adviced against exercise, quite the contrary. Again, from all the health benefits that increases longevity, I'd find it a bad idea for such a patient to completely avoid saunas. I'd just urge the person to be careful and exit the sauna if she feels bad. Same with infrared light use.
Drinking in the sauna is very common on Finland (I do it too sometimes). Its usually only a beer or two most of the times however😄
😱
Same in Sweden, although much less than in Finland.
Sauna, drinking, and swimming goes hand in hand.
It’s how Finns cope w depression.
I'd love to see some objective data on the benefits of hot exercise, both with and without infrared lights. I use a Hotworx studio, where I do interval training @130 F two to three times weekly. The traditional saunas in my city are more like AIDS-sharing spaces than what the Fins had in mind.
i think its simple the answer that is , if one is about to die he probably cant go to sauna to begin with he is ether at home or at a hospital .
For those who really don’t have the money to do regular saunas. Would soaking in a hot bath provide any of the sauna benefits?
It's pretty common in Russia to drink vodka in Saunas. Not sure how this tradition formed, bout thousands of people do that regularly, people who can are often overweight, drinkers and smokers, all in one. And yes, there is nothing good in that combination, yet people keep doing it.
Unfortunately, Attia has a long history of promoting beliefs that are refuted by the scientific evidence. It has made him wealthy though. He is telegenic and articulate which no doubt helps explain his popularity on social media and among alternative health believers and health influencers of the shock/horror persuasion.
However, it means that I automatically question anything he says.
Mind blown moment!.. Seriously, I went down a deep rabbit hole after watching this - the kind where you come out hours later questioning reality!
So, I started digging into the effects of different types of EMF (because that’s what you do on a Friday afternoon, right?). I focused on far, mid, and near-infrared, pretty straightforward stuff. But then, I couldn't help but notice there are some wild overlaps between the effects of near-infrared (NIR) and RF-EMF. Which, at first glance, feels paradoxical. I mean, NIR is way further down the spectrum, past far-infrared and brushing shoulders with visible light, while RF-EMF hangs out with microwave frequencies. So, why would both have similar effects on cellular signaling pathways?
Cue the plot twist: heat shock proteins (HSPs). Both NIR and RF-EMF can trigger these molecular repair crews, which got me thinking... Maybe we’ve been a bit too quick to lump RF-EMF into the “bad guy” category. Sure, RF-EMF seems more likely to stir up ROS (reactive oxygen species) and inflammation, which isn’t ideal. But what if we flipped the script?
What if low-level RF-EMF exposure works like a hormetic stressor, a small dose of “stress” that actually makes your cells stronger? Kind of like exercise or cold plunges, but for your cellular signaling pathways. Of course, you’d need to counterbalance the increased ROS and inflammation with antioxidants (hello, vitamin C, NAC, curcumin), but in theory, this could turn RF-EMF exposure into a net health win.
Crazy idea? Maybe. But isn’t science all about asking weird questions and poking the edges of what we think we know?
Just some brain fuel for your next trip down the rabbit hole. 😉
Nice thinking! Very original approach. I use a fairly old IR sauna frequently during the cold months and have never worried about EM radiation and I've never had any symptoms that would cause me to suspect it's a problem. I do take Vitamin C and curcumin daily, and recently added NAC, but never to offset EM radiation effects.
I've always found my sauna use to have a positive effect on both my physical and mental health. A good session provides a huge increase in dopamine afterwards, much like having gone for a good run. But like any workout one has to remind oneself that the amount of suffering during it directly relates to the amount of benefit afterwards.
Wishful thinking 😊
guess i should stop drinking beer in the sauna 😅
But you have to replenish the fluids you sweat out. As long as you some cardio you should be ok. Right?
@@patcusack6252 alcohol is a known carcinogen.. and there is no safe dose like there is no safe amount of cigarettes to smoke. Drink water
I detest heat. I am wiped out and feel awful be it humid or dry heat. Dry is better, but I feel as though I am drowning in a wet sauna. I cant breathe.
Saint Floyd spoke of this
Can you evaluate Urolithin A
Have video
Last Tuesday at 9:28am, I changed my mind on connection between LDL and mental disease. Why nobody makes a video about that? It's about time.
wat.
@@Physionic Low LDL is causing Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ADHD and of course anxiety. I changed my mind about that, so please, someone make video if possible.
It would be interesting to see if there is a difference in health benefits between classic sauna and infrared sauna...
Been wondering about that for a long time but can't find definitive data.
Tough one to tease out, I’d need to look further
Pretty sure hot rocks or flame or whatever ”produces” infrared light. But certain wavelengths can have certain effects. So not the same but similiar. Normal sauna can be like small workout, infrared sauna more like recovery.
Or steam shower. I can only stand a max of 10 minutes at 110 degrees F with near 100% humidity. But I'm motivated to do it every night because it helps me sleep much better. But with dry saunas, people spend ~30 minutes in there at 180 degrees F. Infrared are apparently slightly lower temperatures. Very different experience, either way.
@@Physionic Same for a hot bath. Is it just about heating up the body?
Eh... Bastu (Sauna) is NEVER done without beer - everyone knows that. And they are accessible to anyone (albeit not at home for most city dwellers) no matter income. /Greetings from Sweden
The adjusted model does not accout for the fact that the people who have the time to go to sauna all the time do this while still doing all the other things the reference group. In other words, they can accomplish more in a time unit. Maybe this is due to the sauna goers having a higher IQ and/or other similar factors that are not adjusted for.
Keep up your potassium and magnesium people
Would Jacuzzi have the same effect as sauna?
First above others, it cleans you.
I do sauna daily, cannot afford to do that at home, but here in Finland, every swimming hall has saunas so there goes your bias towards a certain $$$ class....
New haircut is fitting. Also, is this the final title of the video?
Ha! A mistake :) thanks
What environmental conditions qualify for something to be called a sauna? Recommending a sauna, when the recommendation would be much simpler, would be preferable.
Agreed, sauna is awesome. 15 plus years with IR 3x a week. Everyone tells me i look 40 not 52...and i feel 40. I do workout and eat well.
Do you also have normal weight, normal blood pressure, don't smoke, drink moderately, no history of heart disease, no type 2 diabetes, cardio, resting heart and physical activity good because you exercise and you're not poor? 😅
@pedro.almeida why are you doing a study?
@ bad joke, just pointing out the factors they adjusted the results to.
Placebo is strong in this one
@@pedro.almeida lol, sorry usually I get the joke esp sarcasm.
Sitting in a sauna while listening to a video about saunas
NV FINAL?
(Verb) To pull an NV
When you leave a VC without saying anything or any indication of leaving.
Will there be an exam at the end?
In video editing it probably means No Voice Final. Forgot to change the title before uploading.
Finns don't do sauna for the health benefits, it just happens to be part of the culture.
Most people do sauna just for fun and drink beer in there, and they have a lot of other unhealthy habits.
Coming from a finn, saying that people who already are interested in health are more likely to do sauna is simply not true. Most low income houses, especially rural ones still have a sauna. Also many low income people go to public saunas.
So who's the interviewer?
With the amount of alcohol finish ppl drink i think sauna doas a alot of heavy lifting for their health :D And Attia talks about mostly rich ppl using sauna or having access... not true every shitty apartments u rent in finland has sauna access... its a commen USA belife that u need to be rich to access these things, not in europe ^^ So his reasoning is based and do not fit Finland
To do a sort of stupid comparison, it's like a bidet, that usually people associate with wealthy mansions, when in fact it was just a standard thing in Europe. Even "poor" houses had one.
12:09 very typical in Finland to drink like a sponge when in sauna xd
I thought detoxing is the main benefit?
Is it Saul Goodman in the thumbnail?
Glad somebody finally said his name right 😂
Sauna makes sweat out heavy metals etc from the body, so good for health. And sauna after exercise is better that way
Lol,you're not sweating any heavy metals out
And no one who's obese is just sitting in saunas and suddenly getting healthy
It's 2025, saunas do nothing
I suspect you may have covered this in previous videos, please point me to the video(s). What if there is no access to a sauna, but access is available to hot tub, hot shower, etc. are the results lesser or greater than a traditional sauna?
I haven't looked into it, but if room (not water) temperature gets to sauna territory, I can't imagine there would be a difference
The big thing with that is that for males it'll nuke your sperm count and test if you aren't careful to cool your testes afterwards. It definitely works though, I did it for a long time before I got a sauna blanket
You would think people who live in Phoenix or the Coachella valley would have noticeably longer lifespans, but it doesn’t really look like it..
(May through October are essentially outdoor sauna months)
Saunas are hotter than hanging outside even in the SW
But it’s not 174 F degrees hot, which is the temp used in most studies to show an effect. Anything under about 150 F won’t provide the benefits such heat shock protein activation.
@ I’ve lived in both places and if you walk around or do other activities during the day, you get quite a bit hotter than the ambient temperature- but probably not 150 degrees hot 😛
Much better video on sauna use